Mayborn Museum Complex
History
The Mayborn Museum Complex is made up of three previous institutions, The Strecker Museum, The Ollie Mae Moen Discovery Center, and the Governor Bill and Vara Daniel Historic Village.
The Strecker Museum
The Baylor University Museum can be traced back to 1856, when an advertisement in the 1856-1857 annual catalogue called for a "telescope, microscope, and contributions for a cabinet for minerals, shells, and petrifactions." to be used for a teaching collection. This collection eventually became the university museum and was later named for its curator, John Kern Strecker, in 1940. Under Strecker, the museum's collections were greatly expanded through trading with other institutions and large donations, including his personal collection of birds, mammals, and reptiles.
The Strecker Museum was housed in various locations on the Baylor campus prior to the construction of the Mayborn Museum Complex, including Caroll Library, Pat Neff Hall, and the Sid Richardson Science Building, where it was permanently housed from 1968 until 2003.
Until its closure to relocate to the Mayborn Museum Complex in 2003, the Strecker Museum was the oldest continuously operating museum in Texas.
The Ollie Mae Moen Discovery Center
In response to a call for a place where local children could find excitement for learning, the Youth Cultural Center was founded in 1965, led by Ollie Mae Moen. Moen led the organization until her retirement in 1982, and it was renamed in her honor in 1994.
The Governor Bill and Vara Daniel Historic Village
The Historic Village was donated to Baylor University by Governor Bill Daniel and his family in 1985. The buildings that comprise today's Village were relocated from Plantation Ranch in Liberty, Texas. The Village offers visitors a representation of rural Texas in the 1890s as portrayed in 9 restored buildings.
See also
References
- ^ "Addition to Museum". The Baylor Lariat. October 17, 1903. p. 1. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
- ^ Lintz, David (July 1, 1995). "Strecker Museum". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
- ^ "Ollie Mae Allison Moen". Baylor University Libraries. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
- ^ Staff (February 7, 2017). "Gov. Bill and Vara Daniel Historic Village". Fox 44 News. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
Thesis
- ^ Brown, Brent A. (1976). A history of the Strecker Museum, 1857-1968 (Masters of Arts thesis). Baylor University.
External links